Fowl anti-cannibalism device



June 7, 1966 J. A. JONES FOWL ANTI-CANNIBALISM DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 16, 1964 R O T N E V m JESSE A, JONES BY 73, I an, Mam M ATTORNEYS June 7, 1966 J, JONES I 3,254,628

FOWL ANTI-CANNIBALI SM DEVICE Filed March 16, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet a INVENTOR.

JESSE A. JONES BY M and, Ma, M; M

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 8,254,628 FOWL ANTI-CANNIBALISM DEVICE Jesse A. Jones, RED. 2, Emporia, Kans. Filed Mar. 16, 1964, Ser. No. 352,113 8 Claims. (Cl. 119-97) This invention relates to a device to be applied to the beak of a fowl for preventing cannibalism and feather pulling. Such devices have considerable usefulness in preventing cannibalism and feather pulling among poultry, particularly pheasants, but also may be used with other fowl.

Conventional anti-cannibalism devices have had drawbacks of various types. Some hinder 'the fowls eating and drinking. Some obstruct breathing and sight. Others become inetfective after awhile because they engage the edges of the upper and lower mandibles of the beak and after awhile wear into the beak, eventually allowing the beak to close completely. Some previous anti-cannibalism devices are too expensive to manufacture to be The fowl anti-cannibalism device of this invention can i take the form of various embodiments. Fundamentally,

each embodiment includes a bracket structure including a bight portion extending between opposite sides. The bight portion fits transversely between the upper mandible and lower mandible of the beakof the fowl with the sides extending adjacent the upper mandible only. Aligned holes through the sides allow the bracket to be pivotally connected to the upper mandible by passing a cotter pin through selected holes and the nostril openings. The configuration of the bracket structure allows it to be manufactured from sheet metal.

In one embodiment, an extension of the bight portion is bent 180 degrees to extend beneath the main bight portion in folded, overlapped fashion. Both the bight portion and the extension have applied thereto as by stamping convex protrusions which cooperate, in effect, to form a sphere or a ball. In a second embodiment, the bight portion has a relatively large hole into which can be fitted a separate ball. The upper and lower protrusions of the first embodiment and the ball of the second embodiment fit in the mouth of the fowl and prevent the beak from being closed completely. The protrusions or the ball, whichever embodiment is employed, bear against the inside of the mouth of the fowl inwardly of the edges of the mandibles. a In another embodiment, the bight portion is provided with a forward extension proportioned to extend beyond the tip of the upper mandible. The top surface of the forward extension adjacent the upper mandible is provided with sandpaper or other abrasive material which wears against the front of the upper mandible.

These embodiments are disclosed in the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of a fowl anti-cannibalism device of this invention fixed upon the beak of a fowl;

FIGURE 2.is a perspective view of the anti-cannibalism device shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of another form of the invention;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a side view of still another form of the 3,254,628 Patented June 7, 1966 invention showing the anti-cannibalism device mounted upon the beak of a fowl;

FIGURE 7 is a front elevation view showing the anticannibalisrn device of FIGURE 6 mounted upon the beak of a fowl (illustrated in broken lines);

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of the anti-cannibalism device shown in FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 9 is a cross-sectional. view taken along line 9-9 of FIGURE 8 with balls of different sizes illustrated in broken lines; and

FIGURES 10, 11 and 12 represent successive steps in the formation of an anti-cannibalism device of this invention.

In FIGURES l, 6 and 7, the head of a fowl is designated by reference numeral 10. The anti-cannibalism device of the invention is intended for use on any fowl inclined to cannibalism, feather pulling or other such tactics. The device prohibits these injurious activities by preventing the fowl from completely closing its beak in a manner which is not harmful to the fowl and which is completely elfective as long as the device is applied to the fowl.

The anti-cannibalism device 12 illustrated in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 includes a bracket 14 made of sheet metal or relatively rigid plastic sheet material having a fiat bight portion 16 and opposed generally flat sides 18 disposed at a slight angle with respect to one another and substantially perpendicular to the bight portion. Each side 18 is provided with a series of holes 20 aligned with correspending holes 20 on the other side 18. The bracket 14 is attached to the upper mandible 21- of the beak of a fowl by inserting a cotter pin 22 through a pair of aligned holes 20 and through the openings or nostrils in the upper mandible. After being mounted, the bracket 14 is free to pivot about the cotter pin 22 as the fowl opens and closes its beak.

A rear extension 24 of the flat bight portion 16 is bent, at 25, degrees to a position generally beneath the main bight portion 16, as shown in FIGURE 3. Convex surfaces or protrusions 26 and 28 are formed in the bight 16 and the extension 24, respectively. These may be made by stamping the protrusions into the sheet metal. The protrusions 26 and 28 cooperate, in effect, to form a ball or sphere at the middle of the bight 16 which serves as a stop member.

When the device 12 is pivotally mounted to the upper mandible 21 of a fowl, the upper protrusion 26 bears against the roof inside of the upper mandible of the fowl, and the lower protrusion 28 bears against the inside of the lower mandible when the fowl tries to close its beak. The bend of the extension 24 at 25 can be adjusted to space the two protrusions 26 and 28 far enough apart so that the fowl cannot completely close its beak. This prevents the fowl from grabbing in its beak the feathers or the skin of other fowl.

The pairs of aligned holes 20 in the sides 18 of the bracket 14, together with the adjustment provided at 25 for spacing apart the two protrusions 26 and 28, allows the anti-cannibalism device 12 to be fitted to fowl having beaks of varying size. An extremely small fowl, for example, may require that the forwardmost holes 20 be used with the two protrusions 26 and 28 pushed (together as close as possible. The exact opposite may be necessary for relatively large birds. In another case it might be appropriate to use the rearwardmost holes 20 in fastening the bracket 14 to the upper mandible and at the same time, it might be necessary to force together the protrusions 26 and 28 as close as possible depending upon the proportions of the beak.

The anti-cannibalism device of FIGURES 1-3 is provided further with a forward extension 30 having an u war-dly protruding flange 32 extending therearound, Th

3 extension 30 is sufiiciently long to extend forwardly beyond the tip of the beak of most any fowl on which the device may be applied. The forward part of the top face of the extension 30 has fastened thereto as by gluing a piece of fine sandpaper or other kind of abrasive material. The bracket 14 fits loose enough on the beak of a fowl to have suflicient movement with respect to the upper mandible to rub against the frontmost part. In addition to deterring feather pulling while attached to a fowl, tihe extension 30 with the sandpaper 34 thereon wears away the front of the upper mandible to keep it from engaging the top of the lower mandible after the device -12 is removed. The extension 30 itself may prevent the beak from closing. Once the front of the upper mandible is worn away, the upper protrusion 26 will engage the inside of the mouth to prevent the beak from closing.

The extension 30 may be omitted from the bracket 14. This embodiment is shown in FIGURES 4 and 5, which embodiment otherwise is identical to the device 12 shown in FIGURES 13. Without the extension, there is no wearing away of the beak, and the protrusions 26 and 28 serve to keep the sides of the upper and lower mandibles from engaging by acting as a stop, engaging only the inside of the mouth.

Another embodiment of the anti-cannibalism device 38 is illustrated in FIGURES 6-12 and includes a bracket 40 with a fiat bight portion 42 and sides 44 with aligned pairs of holes 46 constructed in a manner similar to the previously described embodiments and pivotally mounted to the upper mandible. 21 by a cotter pin 22. The flat bight portion 42 has a relatively large hole 48 therein. An extension 50 at the rear of the bight portion 42 is pro vided with a cutout having a concave surface 52 of a radius approximately the same as the hole 48. The extension 50 is adapted to be folded at 54 under the main bight portion 42 so that the cutout is aligned substantially vertically with the rear edge of the hole 43. A ball 58 having a diameter greater than the hole 48 is fitted from the underside into the hole 48 after which the extension 50 is bent to its underlying position with the concave surface 25 engaging the ball 58 to hold it in position. Balls of varying diameter can be accommodated by the bracket 40 and can be selected according to the size and nature of the beak of the fowl to prevent the upper and lower mandibles from engaging by hearing against the inside of the mouth of the fowl.

In FIGURES 10, 11 and 12, various steps of forming the anti-cannibalism device 38 are represented. To start with, a sheet of metal of relatively thin gauge may be stamped out in the shape shown in FIGURE 10 with the hole 48 pushed through the bight portion 42. Next, the sides 44 may be bent upwardly with respect to the bight portion 42 along the lines A to the position shown in FIGURE 11. The ball 58, of suitable size, then may be inserted in the hole 48 at the face opposite the sides 44 (FIGURE 12), after which the extension 50 may be bent into position as shown in FIGURE 9 to hold the ball in place. The embodiments of the anti-cannibalism device disclosed in FIGURES l-3 and FIGURES 4 and may be formed in a similar manner, for example, by stamping out of sheet metal the basic structure after which the two protrusions 26 and 28 may be formed.

The anti-cannibalism devices of this invention have many advantages over previous devices. The fowl is free to seat and drink with little or no hindrance. Each device remains effective as long as it is on the beak of the fowl. A significant improvement over earlier devices is provided by the fact that the bight portion is relatively thin compared with the vertical dimension of the stop or abutment structure, whether it be the protrusions 26 and 28, or a ball 58. This difference in relative distances provides a highly advantageous way of preventing a fowl from closing its beak. It is more permanent and less harmful than earlier devices. The bracket will not wear into the upper or lower mandibles since the bight portion has little or no contact with the edges of either the upper or lower mandibles. If contact does occur along the edges of the mandible for some reason, this can be overcome by adjusting the extension 24 or by using a larger ball 53. The extension 30 provides an additional feature not encountered in earlier devices. The devices do not prevent the fowl from seeing forward and can be adjusted to fit the beaks of fowls of various ages and sizes.

While the invention has been disclosed in various embodiments which are intended to be illustrative, modifications may be made. Consequently, the scope of the invention should be determined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A device of the character described comprising a U-shaped bracket having sides adapted to extend along the outside of the upper mandible of a fowl and a bight portion disposed between the upper and lower mandibles, and stop means on the bight portion extending away from the bight portion engageable with the inside of the month between the edges of the mandibles of the fowl to prevent contact of the upper and lower mandibles and to prevent substantial engagement of the bight portion with the edges of the upper and lower mandibles.

2. The device as described in claim 1 wherein an extension protrudes forwardly of the bight portion beyond the forward top of the upper mandible.

3. The device as described in claim 2 wherein an abrasive material covers part of the top of the extension.

4. The device as described in claim 1 wherein the bight portion is provided with a hole, and wherein the stop means is a separate ball.

5. The device as described in claim 1 wherein the bight portion includes an extension disposed in overlapped folded relationship with the bight portion, and oppositely extending protruding means on the bight portion and the extension cooperating to form said stop means.

6. A device of the character described comprising a bracket structure of sheet material adapted to be pivota-lly attached to the upper mandible of a fowl, said bracket structure including a transverse portion disposed between the mandibles of the fowl, and stop means on the trans verse portion extending from opposite faces of the transverse portion and engageable with the inside of the mouth between the edges of the mandibles of the fowl for preventing complete closure of the beak of the fow'l.

7. A device of the character described comprising a bracket structure of sheet material adapted to be pivotally attached to the upper mandible of a fowl, said bracket structure including spaced-apart sides adapted to receive therebetween the upper mandible and having a plurality of pairs of holes aligned in the sides, any one of said pairs of holes receiving a pin extendable through the nostrils in the upper mandible, and stop means supported by the bracket structure within the mouth of the fowl engageable with only the inside of the month between the edges of the mandibles for preventing complete closure of the beak of the fowl.

8. A device for preventing a fowl from completely closing its beak including a bracket structure attachable to the beak, said bracket structure supporting an abutment structure disposed entirely within the fowls mouth between the edges of the fowls mandibles to engage only the inside of the mouth.

References Cited by the Examiner FOREIGN PATENTS 1/1953 Great Britain. 7/ 1960 Great Britain. 

6. A DEVICE FOR THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED COMPRISING A BRACKET STRUCTURE OF SHEET MATERIAL ADAPTED TO BE PIVOTALLY ATTACHED TO THE UPPER MANDIBLE OF A FOWL, SAID BRACKET STRUCTURE INCLUDING A TRANSVERSE PORTION DISPOSED BETWEEN THE MANDIBLES OF THE FOWL, AND STOP MEANS ON THE TRANSVERSE PORTION EXTENDING FROM OPPOSITE FACES OF THE TRANSVERSE PORTION AND ENGAGEABLE WITH THE INSIDE OF THE MOUTH BETWEEN THE EDGES OF THE MANDIBLES OF THE FOWL FOR PREVENTING COMPLETE CLOSURE OF THE BEAK OF THE FOWL. 